Page 49 of Shattering Dawn

Gideon picked up one of the doughnuts and got a determined expression. “About last night.”

“Oh, joy. I love conversations that start with ‘about last night.’ What can possibly go wrong?”

“I want to make it clear that I do not have a phobia.”

“I didn’t say you did.” She finished the egg. “I said it was a theory.”

“You are not qualified to offer an opinion.”

“Okay, how would you describe your little problem with sex?”

Gideon choked on the bite of doughnut. He coughed a few times, glanced around to make sure nobody had overheard her question, and then looked at her, his eyes very fierce. He lowered his voice to a dangerous level.

“I do not have a problem with sex,” he said, spacing each word out. “I have issues when it comes to sleeping with someone. It’s complicated, damn it.”

“I dunno. Sounds pretty straightforward to me.” She picked up the banana and set about stripping off the peel. “You’ve had a few unfortunate experiences and you’ve developed a fear of falling asleep in close proximity to someone you’re sexually attracted to. Ergo, you’ve developed a phobia. Perfectly understandable.”

“There’s just one problem with your theory.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“It’s true that you did not wake up in a screaming nightmare last night.”

“Which proves my point. No sex, no problem.”

Gideon watched her insert the tip of the banana between her lips.

“We did not have sex,” he said evenly. “But do not assume that I did not want to have sex. With you.”

She felt as if she had been zapped by a bolt of lightning from the clear blue sky. Her front teeth clamped down on the tip of the banana. Gideon winced.

She tried to swallow and gagged instead. She grabbed a napkin, aware that a few heads were turning her way—some in concern, some in curiosity. She knew she was turning red.

Gideon gripped his cane, got to his feet, and slapped her lightly on the back a few times. “Breathe.”

She swallowed, took a breath, and managed to pull herself together.

“You’re embarrassing me,” she hissed.

He sat down and picked up his coffee. “Just trying to clarify a point.”

She leaned forward and lowered her voice another notch. “Are you telling me that you wanted to have sex last night?”

“Yep. Sort of blows your theory all to smithereens, doesn’t it?”

She narrowed her eyes, trying and failing to suppress the heady little rush his news gave her. She’d had a few heated fantasies of her own last night but she had told herself the attraction was one-sided. What if it was mutual?

“I suppose it’s been a while for you, what with the trauma of the cult case and your injuries,” she said.

“Believe it or not, I was doing just fine until you showed up.”

“Actually, I think you were sort of depressed.”

“You’re a photographer, not a therapist.”

“I was just trying to be helpful. As someone who has also experienced an unusual phobia, I can understand—”

“Excuse me.” Gideon grabbed his cane and propelled himself to his feet. “I need another doughnut.”